Improvement in railroad-car seats



G. L. DULANEY. Car Seat amd Couch.

Patented Dec. 28, 'i

AMA PHOTO-LITHO. CO. NX (OSBORHES PROCESS.)

UNITED STATES APATENT OEErcEC GEORGE L. DULANEY, OF MOUNT JACKSON,VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND SOLOMON K. MOORE, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-CAR SEATS.

Specification forming part ot' Letters Patent No. 22,471, dated December28, 1958.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. DULANEY, ot' Mount Jackson, in the countyof Shenandoah and State of Virginia, have invented a new and usefulimprovement in railroad-car seats for enabling them to be converted intosleeping couches or berths; and do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section through a part of thepassage-way in the center of the car, showing an end view of two seatswith their parts in the positions they are placed in when they areintended to be oecupied by the passengers in a sitting posture. Fig. 2is a vertical section through one of the seats. Fig. 3 is a top orbirdseye view of t-he seats when turned and with their parts arranged toform sleeping couches or berths. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectionof the same at the line l 2 of Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts in theseveral figures.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use lmy invention, lwill proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The frame A of each seat consists of two end uprights, which serve asarmrests for-the passengers, connected together by a horizontalplatform, A', on the edge of which is secured a right-angled rib,extending, like it, from one upright to the other and being beveled onits upper edge.

To the horizontal platform A is attached by bars B the seat-bottom O,which consists of a horizontal frame-work or plank having a cushion uponits upper surface and beveled on one of its edges to correspond with thebeveled edge of the right-angled rib upon which it rests, and having aright-angled rib, r, secured to its opposite edge, which rests on theedge of the horizontal platform A when the seat-bottom is brought to theposition to form a.A seat.

Thelends of the barsB are attached by pins to the upper surface of theplatform-pieces A at points very near midway between its side edges, andto the seat-bottom near the beveled edge of the same in such a manner asto enable them to form supports for one side of the seatbottoms7 whenmoved from the seat-frames to form part of a sleeping couch, as will behereinafter described.

To the arm-rest portions of the uprights of the seatfra`me are jointedby pins one of the ends of the bars D ot' the backs E, the opposite endsof said bars being secured to the ends of the backs E midway betweentheir upper and lower edges, so as to enable them to be reversed toaccommodate the passengers with their faces looking to either end of thecar.

The seats thus formed are arranged in the same relation to each other asthe ordinary caiseats, when employed to accommodate the passengers in asitting posture, and are retained in their positions by swivel-pins F,projecting from their lower parts, near the ends next the longitudinalpassage-way through the car, and entering a socket or step in the doorof the car.

Vhen it is desired to convert the seats into sleeping-couches they areswung around on their swivel-pins F parallel with and immediately nextthe central passage-way through the car, so as to bring the ends of theseats next each other and enable every successive pair of seats withtheir hereinafter-described adjunct parts to form comfortable horizontalsleeping couches or berths for the four persons for which they aredesigned.

The pins for securing the bars D to the arm rests of the uprights passthrough slotsin said bars, so as to admit of the bars E being raised andmoved to a vertical position and the projecting pins a, near their endedges, to enter openings in the arm-rests, being held in this relationto the seats by hooks b, attached to the arm-rests and hooking intostaples on the ends of the backs E.

To each of the horizontal platforms A', immediately below one of thearm-rests, is hinged two folding cushions, G, hinged together andcapable of being folded together in an upright position under the saidarm-rests when the seat is used by the passengers in a sitting posture,and ylowered and extended in a horizontal position'fon top of thehorizontal platform or planki'A when it is desired to causegthem, inconnection with the folding cushionsG of the next seat in succession, toform a sleeping couch or berth, the bottom C of the two seats mentionedbeing previously moved over on their jointed bars B to next the side ofthe car,

with theirl right-angled ribsv or planks i" resting on the door of thesame and their opposite edges supported on the bars B, so as to bringtheir upper cushioned surfaces on a line with each other and with theupper surfaces of the folding cushions G, and thereby7 form anadditional single sleeping couch or berth.

The uprights of the frames A of the seats at the opposite ends to thoseto which the folding cushions G are hinged are provided with blind-slatsH, inside ot' which are arranged sliding slat-blind frames H', forenabling the Y lower part of every successive pair of seats to beseparated to insure greater privacy to their occupants, and to preventby such partitions the heads or feet of passengers in one berth or couchinterfering; with the passenger in the one next in succession.

The upper berths or couches next the side ot' the car are formed bycushioned frames I, hinged at one ot' their edges to the side ofthe carand capable of being raised to a horizontal position,and secured thereby hooks h on their edges, which hook into staples on the arm-rests ofthe nprights. Those next the backs of the seats-are formed by cushionedflaps K, hinged at one ot' their edges on the same horizontal plane asthe hinged edges of the cushioned frames I are situated, and capable ofbeing raised to a horizontal position, with their edges next the edgesVof the cushioned frames I, where they are sustained by one or moresliding bolts, e, secured in suitable hasps under the cushioned frames Iand made toslide beyond the edge of the saine, so as to form supportsfor the edges of the cushioned aps K. In this manner every successivepair of seats is made to form two double sleeping couches or berths,capable of accommodating the four passengers, which they can alsoaccommodate in a sitting posture, and these couches or berths aredivided by suitable partitions, the lower ones by the slatted-blindframes II H. at the ends of the seats, and the upper berths or couchesby the horizontally-swinging cushioned liaps K, secured at one of theirends by hinges to the ends of the backs E of the seats, and capable ofbeing either swung and folded flat upon and against the same to form arest for the backs of the passengers when in a sitting posture, orturned at right angles to the said backs and between the ends ot' therespective upper berths or couches to inclose them in separate anddistinct compartments.

On the rear surface of the backs of the seats are arranged slides ormovable panels M,Whose tapered edges are inserted in grooves at the endsof the backs E; and, in case itis desired, those slides can be raised tolthe roof ofthe car, so as to entirely exclude the occupants ol' theupper berths or couches from observation.

In case it is desired, each successive pair ot' seats may be arranged atthe proper distances apart to enable spaces to be formed between theirends when brought to the positions to form them into berthsor couches,for rendering access to them more convenient.

vVh-at I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

rIhe combination and arrangement of the movable seat-bottoms C, hingedi'olding cushions G, sliding slat-blind frames H', and hinged cushionedframes I, and cushioned aps K L on the backs E of the seats, and slidesor panels M.

GEORGE L. DULAN EY.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. SAUM, LEVI RINKER.

